Course Credit:
4
PSY 305: Industrial Psychology
Credit Hours: 4
Introduction to the Course
Industrial-organizational (I-O) Psychology is the scientific study of the workplace. Psychological knowledge and methodology are used to study relevant business issues including but not limited to employee and organizational assessment, selection, training, performance, development, behavior, satisfaction, leadership, and work-life balance. This course is designed in order to achieve a number of integrated objectives that are important to the sophisticated understanding of the theories and research that guide I-O practice, and practical knowledge of how I-O activities are conducted.
Course Objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
- understand the origins of I-O Psychology and what I-O Psychologists do
- understand the building blocks of a job and learn a methodology to study jobs
- learn how the science of human behavior is used to select, develop, and manage employees
- learn how organizations can create a supportive work environment
- develop an understanding of how theory and research are applied to work settings
- begin to think and write critically about I-O psychology theory, research, and application
- begin to apply what they’ve learned about I-O psychology to their own and others’ work
Course Contents and Number of Classes (Lecture Hour)
Unit No.
|
Topics
|
No. of classes
|
1
|
Introduction to I-O Psychology
Definition of I-O Psychology, I-O Psychology as an Applied Science, History of I-O Psychology, Career as an I-O Psychologist, Future challenges of I-O Psychology
|
4
|
2
|
Research Methods in I-O Psychology
Significance of Research in the field of I-O Psychology, Research Designs, Data collection Methods,
Data analyses
|
4
|
3
|
Job Analysis
Definition of Job Analysis, Purposes of Job Analysis, Source of Job Analysis Information, Methods
of Job Analysis, Reliability and Validity of Job Analysis Information, Job Evaluation
|
6
|
4
|
Assessment Methods for Selection and Placement
Job Related Characteristics, Psychological Tests, Biographical information, Work Samples, Assessment Centers, Interviews
|
6
|
5
|
Selecting Employees
The Planning of Human Resource Needs, Recruiting Applicants, Selecting
Employees, The Utility of Scientific Selection
|
5
|
6
|
Performance Appraisal
Significance of Performance Appraisal, Performance Criteria, Methods of Assessing Job
Performance
|
5
|
7
|
Training and Development
Need Assessment, Setting Objectives, Training Design, Training Methods, Delivery of a Training
Program, Evaluation of Training
|
5
|
8
|
Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment
The Nature of Job Satisfaction, The Assessment of Job Satisfaction, Antecedents of Job Satisfaction,
Potential Effects of Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment
|
5
|
9
|
Productive and Counter Productive Behavior
Productive Behavior and Job Performance, Environmental Conditions and Job Performance,
Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Counterproductive Behavior
|
5
|
10
|
Employee Health and Safety
Physical Conditions Affecting Health and Safety, Work Schedules, Job Stress, Burnouts
|
5
|
11
|
Accident in Industry and Prevention
Definition of Accident, Causes of Accidents, Prevention of Accidents
|
5
|
12
|
Engineering Psychology
Objectives of Human Factors/Ergonomics, The Man-machine System, Display and Control Designs
|
5
|
Total number of classes: 60
Learning Outcomes
After reading and studying each unit, students should be able to:
Unit 1:
1. Define I/0 psychology and know the difference between industrial and organizational psychology.
2. Describe the major activities of I-O psychologists in research and practice settings.
3. Explain how the field began and cite events that shaped its development.
4. Identify individuals who affected the development of the field.
5. Explain the importance of the Hawthorne studies.
6. Describe the role of I-O psychology worldwide.
7. Explain how an I/0 psychologist is trained.
8. Know the future challenges of I-O Psychology
Unit 2:
1. Understand and describe the characteristics of a good research question.
2. Explain each of the major concepts of research design including: variables, setting, generalizability, control, confounding, random assignment, and random selection.
3. Explain what a research design is; Describe different types of research designs as well as list their advantages and disadvantages.
4. Define the basic concepts of measurement.
5. List and describe the types of reliability and discuss the different ways of assessing validity.
7. Define basic concepts of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics and explain the difference between them.
10. Report the nature and purpose of meta-analysis.
11. Understand the major principles of research ethics.
Unit 3:
- Differentiate between job-oriented and person-oriented job analyses.
2. Understand uses of job analysis.
3. List the various sources of job analysis information; and the advantages and disadvantages of using each source.
4. Explain the major methods of job analysis, focusing on similarities and differences among them.
5. Report the reliability and validity of job analysis information.
6. Understant how job evaluation is conducted and its usage in determining comparable worth.
Unit 4:
1. Describe and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of psychological tests.
2. Describe and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of biographical information.
3. Describe and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of interviews.
4. Describe and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of work samples.
5. Describe and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of assessment centers.
Unit 5:
1. Explain how organizations conduct human resource planning and why it is important.
2. Describe the different ways of recruiting applicants and their effectiveness.
3. Explain how organizations select employees in terms of conducting validation studies.
4. Describe and explain how predictor information is used in selection.
5. Describe ways organizations can get applicants to accept job offers and keep jobs.
6. Explain concepts important in the utility of scientific selection.
Unit 6:
1. List the uses of job performance information.
2. Contrast actual and theoretical criteria, explaining contamination, deficiency, and relevance.
3. Discuss criterion complexity in terms of composite, multidimensional, and dynamic criteria as well as contextual performance.
4. Contrast objective and subjective measures of performance and give their advantages and disadvantages.
5. List the various types of rater biases and errors and discuss how they can possibly be controlled.
6. Discuss the impact of technology on performance appraisal.
7. List the characteristics of a legally defensible performance appraisal system
Unit 7:
1. List the steps involved in developing and implementing a training program in an organization.
2. Explain needs assessment.
3. Discuss the factors that affect learning and transfer of training.
4. Describe how training programs are evaluated.
5. Describe future issues and challenges in training.
Unit 8:
1. Define job satisfaction and describe how it is assessed.
- Describe the antecedents of job satisfaction.
- Describe the possible effects of job satisfaction.
- Define organizational commitment and describe how it is assessed.
- Explain how organizational commitment relates to other variables.
- Explain how emotions affect people at work.
Unit 9:
1. Discuss how personal characteristics and environmental conditions impact job performance.
2. Discuss the role of Human Factors in job performance.
3. Define and discuss reasons for Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB).
4. Discuss employee withdrawal, focusing on the concepts of absence, lateness, and turnover.
5. Define and discuss reasons for Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB).
Unit 10:
1. Discuss the physical work conditions affecting employee health and safety.
2. Explain how work schedules affect employee health and well-being.
3. Describe the occupational stress process, including its antecedent and consequences.
4. Define burnout and discuss how it relates to employee health and well-being.
Unit 11:
1. Define industrial accidents.
2. Describe the causes of accidents.
3. Know the preventive measures against accidents.
4. Discuss strategies to promote safety in the workplace.
Unit 12:
1. Define human factors engineering/ergonomics.
2. Discuss the objectives of human factors engineering.
3. Define and discuss man-machine system with its advantages and disadvantages.
4. Discuss proper display and control design in machines.
5. Undersand the compatibility between display and control designs.
Instructional Strategies (Mode of Teaching)
Audiovisual Lecture, Discussion, Interactive Sessions, Assignment
Readings
Blum, M. L. and Naylor, J. C. (1968). Industrial Psychology. New Delhi: CSB Publishers.
Chapanis, A. (1996). Human Factors in System Engineering. John Wiley and Sons Inc.
Dunnette, M. D. (1966). Personnel Selection and Placement. Belmont, California : Wadsorth Publishing Co.
Howell, W. C. and Dipboye, R. l. (1982). Essential of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Homewood, Illinois: The Dorsey Press.
McCormick, E. J. and Hagen, D. R. (1995). Industrial and Organizational Psychology, London, Routledge Publications.
Miner, J. B. (1992). Industrial-Organizational Psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill International Edition.
Saal, F. E. and Knight, P. A. (1995). Industrial/Organizational Psychology. Brooks/Cole Publishing Company. California. USA.
Scultz, D. P. and Scults S. E. (1998). Psychology and Work Today. Prentice-Hall Inc. New Jersey. USA.
Spector, P. E. (1996). Industrial and Organizational Psychology. John Wiley and Sons Inc. New York. USA.